Solothurn
04-12-2018, 10:38 AM
I've only been casting a Lil over a year and a half. I read a lot on this forum before I got started and learned a lot from it. Here's a few little things I learned or found to be helpful after casting a little while.
Started out with iron 2 cavity and aluminum 5 cavity molds. I prefer aluminum because it gets up to temperature quicker and because I don't have to put a rust preventative in the cavities, and then have to clean them before use. 5-cavity molds increase production quite a bit over 2-cavity.
When you get a new mold, clean it well and apply anti-seize, to all the bolts and screws. Makes for easier disassembly later.
Preheat your molds. I made a sheetmetal oven to sit on top of a hotplate that gets molds up to 350 degrees. Usually have good boolits right off the bat. Until the mold is up to temperature, you will just be casting for practice, not making boolits.
Designing boolits is above my pay grade. My first was okay, but not any better than anything else. Number two was a flop, at least for use in the intended caliber. There are enough RN-FP designs out there that work already.
Started out with iron 2 cavity and aluminum 5 cavity molds. I prefer aluminum because it gets up to temperature quicker and because I don't have to put a rust preventative in the cavities, and then have to clean them before use. 5-cavity molds increase production quite a bit over 2-cavity.
When you get a new mold, clean it well and apply anti-seize, to all the bolts and screws. Makes for easier disassembly later.
Preheat your molds. I made a sheetmetal oven to sit on top of a hotplate that gets molds up to 350 degrees. Usually have good boolits right off the bat. Until the mold is up to temperature, you will just be casting for practice, not making boolits.
Designing boolits is above my pay grade. My first was okay, but not any better than anything else. Number two was a flop, at least for use in the intended caliber. There are enough RN-FP designs out there that work already.